Stephen Francis (aka. Paul B Wakeford)

Stephen Francis
Hi, I guess if you are here you would like to know a little about Stephen
Francis.
My name is Paul and in 2023 I started building a portfolio of work that I hoped to one day sell in galleries. That has always been my dream. Originally, I sold under my name, Paul B Wakeford.
Now though, I’ve changed my mind. Since my dad died, I have been using his name as a pseudonym. This means that although, sadly, he won’t get to see me achieve my dream, I’ll still keep him with me throughout. The portrait of him is one I painted for his funeral and it helped me grieve his loss while painting it.
Dad got me my first real job as a picture framer as he knew how much I loved to draw and paint and wanted to make a living from it. I have worked as a picture framer for 15 years, with art being worked on in the background, but, as mentioned earlier, I have always wanted to get my work into galleries.
My family supported me throughout and at the beginning of 2023 I was in a great job which allowed me to have time to paint again. I talked to Dad about being in a great place and I was going
to start building a portfolio to push my work. Sadly, a few weeks later, he died very suddenly.
So, the first painting I did was for his funeral. It was while painting him that I decided to start painting under his name so that I could honor my kind, gentle dad – Stephen Francis Wakeford – and he could help me achieve my dream of being an artist in a gallery.
Paul B Wakeford
I am a self-taught artist. When I was young I started drawing and always wanted to make a living from selling my artwork. As with most dreams, it was always in my mind but I found other jobs and
did my artwork in the background as a hobby.
I studied Graphic Design at the Arts Institute Bournemouth, to use my artistic side in a world where IT was the future. I had a few jobs and then was very lucky to find a position at a framing and printing firm. I learned about stretching canvases, framing artists’ work professionally, and scanning and printing artists’ work. I worked for several artists, and always felt one day I had to try to make it and frame my own art.
I also joined a group of artists locally, and I found an environment where I could work and talk with other artists. Here I was introduced to another medium and tried pastels for the first time. My first
pastel drawing was “Make a Wish”. I loved using pastels, and the thought of using another medium wasn’t so scary anymore – I found a lot of the skills I already used in drawing were transferable into other mediums too. Although the group has now disbanded, I found acrylics and loved working with them and the colour pallet you could create.
I started trying different styles to what I was used to after a few paintings in acrylics. I decided I was going to try to concentrate on the colours and not take the time so much on unnecessary details.
I started this with a painting of a sunset over the sea, “Studland Surrenders”. The response I received was amazing. I have always had the support of my family and the inspiration from other
artists’ work, but to see the response to my work from strangers, and fellow artists was unbelievable. My family have been behind me all the way and have always pushed me into having confidence in my artwork, and the response to the painting gave me the push I needed to take the next step, so here we are…